What Happens if I Still Disagree with the Offer?

Hopesfall

New Member
2
Long story short, I totaled my car back in December. I was ran off the road into a pretty deep ditch in a crazy rain storm. The car never stopped and left me there. Fortunately I was ok and nobody was hurt.
I only wish the same could be said for my beloved car. Luckily I have full coverage insurance, so everything will be ok! Wrong.

So here we are now, almost 2 months later, and I'm feeling very defeated by my insurance company. Part of me wants to continue the fight, while the other half just wants to throw in the towel and move on.

This has been an incredibly slow process with very poor communication from the person/people handling my claim. I have State Farm FYI.

Basically, I feel my car isn't being valued fairly.
In the vehicle evaluation report I received, they determine the "base value" of my vehicle by finding another vehicle like mine that is for sale around me. They used Cars.com to find one.
Well, they found a car almost exactly like mine. Same make, model, year, color, trim package, and similar miles. Yet, is was selling for several thousand dollars cheaper than the other cars like mine that were also in the area.
After a little investigating, it was determined that car had a salvage title due to it previously being in an accident, where it was totaled.

So, I informed the woman who is handling my claim that I had found this information and I'd like them to use a more appropriate vehicle for the value comparison. My car was in very very good condition and it had never been in a wreck and had no issues with the title.
She informed me that she'd look into the situation.

Fast forward to today, a week has passed since the last conversation between the claim handler and I.
I had called and emailed her several times, just to see where we were at with this whole situation but I couldn't seem to reach her.
Well, I finally received an email. It was from a woman who is "assisting" my claim handler with my claim. The email basically stated they requested a 10 day payoff to my lien holder and they hoped I was happy with the revised figures for the evaluation.

I'm not ready to move forward with the payoff, and the revised figures aren't revised at all. The amount is still the same. Nothing has changed, and I'm feeling very confused and frustrated.
Do I try contacting the original claim handler or do I contact the woman who is now assisting her?
What happens when I tell them I still disagree with their offer?

I'd appreciate some input, please.
 
what's the year, make and model of your vehicle?

how many miles on the odometer?

how much are they offering?

need to know those things before making a suggestion.
 
what's the year, make and model of your vehicle?

how many miles on the odometer?

how much are they offering?

need to know those things before making a suggestion.

2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR

104k on the odometer

Car was valued at 20k from them, and apparently the 6-7k in aftermarket parts only added about 400 dollars to the value of my car.
 
After market parts add zero value in my opinion. If you were to sell it you rarely get much extra for the extra parts.
 
A quick look in my area for the same car shows this to be a reasonable offer. Options could make a bit of difference.

After market options are always tricky. The truth is, they add almost no resale value to a car, which is a tough thing to swallow when this type of event occurs. Your best bet, if you can, is to pull the aftermarket stuff and put the stock items back in, then sell the aftermarket parts separately.

The other hard part is you are emotionally involved in the deal, which is understandable. That doesn't translate to any additional value though, but you think it does. I've been through this with many people that had their cars totaled. They liked the car and thought the value was far above what the real value was.

Sort of like the client I had that just had their transmission replaced, spent $2000 on it, drove out of the car repair place and on the way home, their car was totaled. How much was the new transmission worth? A few hundred dollars. Why? Its expected that a car you buy has a working transmission. One with a busted one would sell for far less. Again, that client was emotionally and financially invested, but the truth is, the settlement was fair if you look at it from personally trying to sell the car.

In your case, if you want to pursue this, you need to do the exact same thing they did and show the numbers and what the car is worth. Just saying 'its not enough' isn't enough on your part. Take the estimate that they put together, shop your car, similar to how they did. Put real numbers in, send it back to them. Don't bother taking all the highest numbers you can find, try to find what cars actually sold for, not what they are for sale for.

If you can show that your car can't be replaced for the value they are offering, then they will work to make an adjustment. A quick look online in my area shows me they are very close, so you will need to build a case as to why they aren't.

Dan
 
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